Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2016
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November 8, 2016 |
August 9, 2016 |
Rick Nolan  |
Rick Nolan |
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Cook Political Report: Toss-up[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean D[2] Rothenberg & Gonzales: Lean D[3] |
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The 8th Congressional District of Minnesota held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2016.
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as a race to watch. Incumbent Rick Nolan (D) defeated Stewart Mills (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. This was a rematch of the 2014 race, in which Nolan successfully defended his seat from Mills by 1.4 percent of the vote. Neither candidate faced a primary opponent in August.[4][5]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
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Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Minnesota utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[6][7][8]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Rick Nolan (D), who was first elected in 2012.
The 8th District covers the northeastern part of Minnesota. The district includes the counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Cass, Chisago, Cook, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Isanti, Itasca, Kanabec, Koochiching, Lake, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, St. Louis, and Wadena. A section of Beltrami County is also included in the district.[9]
Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
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| Democratic |  Rick Nolan Incumbent |
50.2% | 179,098 | |
| Republican | Stewart Mills | 49.6% | 177,089 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.2% | 792 | |
| Total Votes | 356,979 | |||
| Source: Minnesota Secretary of State | ||||
Candidates
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General election candidates: Rick Nolan   Stewart Mills |
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Primary candidates:[10] |
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Republican |
Race background
Incumbent Rick Nolan was one of the initial 14 members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program. The program was designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents heading into the 2016 election.[13]
Stewart Mills was a member of the NRCC's Young Guns Program in 2016. The Young Guns program "supports and mentors challenger and open-seat candidates in races across the country."[14]
Polls
| Minnesota’s 8th District - Rick Nolan vs. Stewart Mills | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Poll | Rick Nolan |
Stewart Mills | Margin of Error | Sample Size | |||||||||||||||
| SurveyUSA October 16-19, 2016 | 41% | 45% | +/-4.1 | 595 | |||||||||||||||
| Clarity Campaign Labs October 10-11, 2016 | 49% | 41% | +/-4.3 | 514 | |||||||||||||||
| The Tarrance Group March 28-30, 2016 | 49% | 46% | +/-5.0 | 422 | |||||||||||||||
| Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected] | |||||||||||||||||||
Media
Rick Nolan
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Opposition
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Stewart Mills
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Opposition
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District history
2014
The 8th Congressional District of Minnesota held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Rick Nolan (D) defeated Stewart Mills (R) and Ray "Skip" Sandman (G) in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
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| Democratic | Rick Nolan Incumbent |
48.5% | 129,090 | |
| Republican | Stewart Mills | 47.1% | 125,358 | |
| Green | Skip Sandman | 4.3% | 11,450 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.1% | 185 | |
| Total Votes | 266,083 | |||
| Source: Minnesota Secretary of State | ||||
2012
The 8th Congressional District of Minnesota held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Rick Nolan (D) won the election in the district.[15]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
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| Democratic | Rick Nolan |
54.3% | 191,976 | |
| Republican | Chip Cravaack Incumbent | 45.4% | 160,520 | |
| NA | Write-in | 0.3% | 1,167 | |
| Total Votes | 353,663 | |||
| Source: Minnesota Secretary of State, "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" (dead link) | ||||
Important dates and deadlines
- See also: Minnesota elections, 2016
The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Minnesota in 2016.
| Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016 | |||
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| Deadline | Event type | Event description | |
| February 1, 2016 | Campaign finance | 2015 year-end report of receipts and expenditures due | |
| May 17, 2016 | Ballot access | Candidate filing period opens | |
| May 31, 2016 | Ballot access | Candidate filing period closes | |
| July 25, 2016 | Campaign finance | First report of receipts and expenditures due (covering January 1 through July 18) | |
| August 9, 2016 | Election date | Primary election | |
| October 31, 2016 | Campaign finance | Second report of receipts and expenditures due (covering January 1 through November 24) | |
| November 8, 2016 | Election date | General election | |
| January 31, 2017 | Campaign finance | 2016 year-end report of receipts and expenditures due | |
| Sources: Minnesota Secretary of State, "Filing Periods," accessed June 12, 2015 Minnesota Votes, "2016 Election Dates," accessed June 12, 2015 Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, "2016 Disclosure Calendar," accessed October 28, 2015 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2016
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2016 House Race Ratings," accessed November 6, 2016
- ↑ Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2016 House," accessed November 6, 2016
- ↑ Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, "House Ratings," accessed November 6, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings," accessed June 1, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Minnesota House Primaries Results," August 9, 2016
- ↑ NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," accessed April 25, 2023
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State,"PRIMARY ELECTION," accessed April 25, 2023
- ↑ United States Census Bureau, "Counties by Congressional Districts," accessed June 8, 2016
- ↑ Candidates are listed by party and alphabetically within each party.
- ↑ Star Tribune, "Stewart Mills preparing for rematch against Rick Nolan in '16,' September 20, 2015
- ↑ Pioneer Press, "It's a Stewart Mills-Rick Nolan rematch for the 8th Congressional District," October 13, 2015
- ↑ Roll Call, "Exclusive: DCCC Announces 14 Incumbents in Frontline Program," February 12, 2015
- ↑ NRCC, "32 Congressional Candidates Announced “On the Radar” as Part of NRCC’s Young Guns Program," November 19, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map," accessed August 15, 2012
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For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!
